The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks

Rating: 4.5

What it's about:

In 1894 Carrie McGavock is an old woman who has only her former slave to keep her company…and the almost 1,500 soldiers buried in her backyard. Years before, rather than let someone plow over the field where these young men had been buried, Carrie dug them up and reburied them in her own personal cemetery. Now, as she walks the rows of the dead, an old soldier appears. It is the man she met on the day of the battle that changed everything. The man who came to her house as a wounded soldier and left with her heart. He asks if the cemetery has room for one more.

In an extraordinary debut novel, based on a remarkable true story, Robert Hicks draws an unforgettable, panoramic portrait of a woman who, through love and loss, found a cause. Known throughout the country as "the Widow of the South," Carrie McGavock gave her heart first to a stranger, then to a tract of hallowed ground-and became a symbol of a nation's soul.

The novel flashes back thirty years to the afternoon of the Battle of Franklin, five of the bloodiest hours of the Civil War. There were 9,200 casualties that fateful day. Carrie's home -- the Carnton plantation -- was taken over by the Confederate army and turned into a hospital; four generals lay dead on her back porch; the pile of amputated limbs rose as tall as the smoke house. And when a wounded soldier named Zachariah Cashwell arrived and awakened feelings she had thought long dead, Carrie found herself inexplicably drawn to him despite the boundaries of class and decorum. The story that ensues between Carrie and Cashwell is just as unforgettable as the battle from which it is drawn.

The Widow of the South is a brilliant novel that captures the end of an era, the vast madness of war, and the courage of a remarkable woman to claim life from the grasp of death itself.
-taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:

The Widow of the South takes place during and after a bloody Civil War battle in Franklin, Tennessee. The title refers to a very real lady who's plantation house becomes a make-shift hospital for the confederate troops. When a neighbor man wants to plow his field under, the same one where the battle took place, Carrie takes it upon herself to dig up the 1,500 soldiers that lie in that field and bury them in her own. She creates a cemetery where she keeps watch over the dead and remembers them so that others can forget. This novel tells Carrie's story but also adds a fair share of fictional characters that add more element to the book for entertainment's sake.

The Battle of Franklin is over and done with in the first hundred pages. The rest of the novel is dedicated to relationships. The relationship between Carrie and a certain soldier who makes her feel alive after so many years of mourning for her three dead children. The relationship between Carrie and her slave Mariah who have been together since birth. The relationship between confederate and union, slave and freed slave, husband and wife. Maybe most importantly this is a story of introspection....Carrie's relationship with herself. She craves meaning and the significance of life and she finds it in Zachariah, a worn out hero of the war who loses a leg in the battle and finds life again at the McGavock plantation hospital.

This is a well researched historical novel surrounding a not-so-well-known lady who devoted her life in caring for the wounded and then the dead in the aftermath of the five bloodiest hours of the Civil War. The Widow of the South is a beautifully written story with characters who have real emotional depth. I'd really like to see more books come from this author!

Wielding a Red Sword by Piers Anthony

Rating: 3.5

What it's about:
Mym was a dutiful son, but rather than agree to his father's choice for his marriage, he took up the Red Sword, symbol of office of the Incarnation of War, in order to ameliorate some of the suffering caused by Earth's constant petty wars. But Mym discovered that Satan was waiting to trap him, and he must now take desperate measures to outwit the evil genius who aimed to destroy the world.... -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
Wielding a Red Sword is the fourth installment in the Incarnations of Immortality series. It centers around Mars, the incarnation of War. The setup is similar to the other books in the series in that the plot leads up to the final engagement between Mars and Satan....a showdown of sorts. The thing about these books is that they feel thrown together. It reads like Anthony made the story up as he went along, and that's fine except that the story has the feel of a rough draft. It was interesting in parts though and a quick read. The first book in the series, On a Pale Horse, is by far the best.

The CR Way by Paul McGlothin and Meredith Averill

Rating: 4.0

What it's about:

When it comes to living longer, scientists are discovering that less is more. By following Calorie Restriction, a revolutionary diet that provides the body with fewer calories than is traditionally required, people are getting dramatic benefits. Now, with The CR Way, you too can slow the aging process; protect against cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes; and increase your energy and mental capabilities. And, if needed, you'll lose weight and keep it off.

Paul McGlothin and Meredith Averill, leaders of the Calorie Restriction Society, provide quick and easy menus and recipes so delicious that you will wonder why you ever wanted to eat more than you need. And for those who want some of the benefits without sacrificing all the calories, the authors will show you how to plan a diet that works for you. Groundbreaking and controversial, The CR Way is your key to a happier, healthier life.

My thoughts:

The CR Way describes the exciting, progressive diet of calorie restriction and the benefits to be reaped from this lifestyle. The object of calorie restriction is to reduce your calorie intake (by 20% or so) while making sure the calories you do eat are nutrient dense. Through some fascinating research, scientists have shown how this lifestyle could prolong the human lifespan considerably. The research mice put on the CR diet lived 40-60% longer with increased brain function and lower rates of age-related disease. This book details the research on calorie restriction, tells how to begin reducing your calories and includes recipes and tips to help you on your way. I find this research to be absolutely fascinating and I can't wait to hear more about this in the future. The CR Way is definitely a pro-active approach to life extension.

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:

Sooner or later, the dead catch up . . .

Judas Coyne was a collector. The bizarre, the uncanny, the grotesque. A cookbook for cannibals. A used hangman’s noose. A snuff film. Many of these objects were gifts from the black-clad fans who made his metal band a legend and made him rich.

But not all. When his personal assistant told him there was a ghost for sale on the Internet, Jude knew he had to have it for his private collection, didn’t think twice. He should have. Jude has spent a lifetime evading ghosts -- of an abusive father, of the bandmates he betrayed, of Anna, the suicidal girl he loved and abandoned. But this spirit is different. This one means to chase him to the edge of sanity.

His new acquisition -- delivered to his doorstep in a black heart-shaped box -- is the restless soul of Anna’s vengeful stepdaddy. Craddock McDermott swore he would settle with Jude for ruining his daughter’s life. Soon, everywhere Jude turns, Craddock is there: behind the bedroom door; in Jude’s restored vintage Mustang; outside his window; on his widescreen TV. Waiting -- with a gleaming razor blade on a chain dangling from one bony hand.

My thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed this ghost story. It's about a heavy metal rocker, Jude, at the end of his career. He spends his days toodling around his upstate New York mansion fixing up his old Mustang, spending time with his two dogs and bickering with his very young and very goth girlfriend Georgia. These lazy days are soon going to end for Jude when he bids on an old, supposedly haunted, suit on the internet. He wants the Johnny Cash style black suit to add to his collection of macabre artifacts that include a cookbook for cannibals, a hangman's noose and an old trepanned skull. What Jude doesn't count on is that this suit isn't just a benign object to add to his collection. It comes with a vengeful ghost who has a bone to pick with Jude.

The premise of this novel may sound a little absurd or silly, buying ghosts online, but it's actually put together well and is undeniably scary. The story is very in-depth about the backgrounds of Jude, his girlfriend Georgia and Craddock the ghost and how all these characters are linked together. I really loved how the dogs played a major role in this story. Also, being a music fan, I appreciated all the music references and musician name dropping. With a title like Heart-Shaped Box (Nirvana) I guess I should have seen it coming. Much of the story takes place in the south through Georgia, Florida and Louisiana and Joe Hill does a great job in bringing the swampy, hot, humid landscape to life. The scenery, the musty swamp smell, the buzzing insects and the spoken southern drawl all work together to paint a vivid picture and set a mood for the book. This is one ghost story with a lot of style and atmosphere....not to be missed!

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, the follow-up to his widely praised The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, should probably come with a warning: After reading this book, you may never shop, cook, or eat the same way again.
-taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
The advice Michael Pollan gives in his new book, In Defense of Food: an eater's manifesto, is sound. It's important to be knowledgeable and make informed decisions about what we put into our bodies.

Pollan talks about food as science in the first part of the book. Scientists are trying to find out what is healthy and what is not but in many cases they are going about it the wrong way. They use a reductionist approach by looking at just vitamin C and lycopene, for instance, instead of looking at the whole tomato.

In the second part of the book Pollan looks at the Western Diet and all the diseases that are linked to it. He talks about how Industry has taken over the supermarket and changed the way we Americans eat.

Lastly, Pollan gives great advice on how we should be eating: eat food, not too much, mostly plants. This may sound simple but he goes into detail about how most of what we see at the grocery store is not real food but food-like substances. Here is some of my favorite advice he gives: If your great-great-grandmother wouldn't recognize it as food, don't eat it. Shop at the periphery of the grocery store and you'll stay away from most of the junk. If something contains more than 5 ingredients don't eat it.

In Defense of Food really gets one thinking about what our ancestors ate and how different it is from what most Americans eat today. I think we would all do well to follow Pollan's recommendations about what we eat and the way we eat it.

With a Tangled Skein by Piers Anthony

Rating: 3.0

What it's about:
When the man Niobe loved was shot, she learned that she had been the target, in a devious plot of the Devil's. Hoping for revenge, she discovered, too late, how intricate his scheming was, and that he had managed to trap her son and her granddaughter, Luna. Niobe's only chance to save them was to accept a challenge by the Prince of Deceit—a challenge to be decided in Hell and in a maze of Satan's devising! -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
This is book number three in the Piers Anthony Incarnations of Immortality series. While I wasn't as into this one as much as the previous two, it was a decent diversion. With a Tangled Skein covers the aspect of Fate. Fate is embodied by three incarnations: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. Fate has to outsmart Satan in his plot for world domination and keep the door open for her granddaughter Luna to become the savior of man. This book is high on humor but the story line just seemed kind of lacking. It felt thrown together. I am curious to see if the rest of the series continues to go downhill or if it gets better.